Methods for processing strip material



April 9, 1963 R. J. ERSKINE METHODS FOR PROCESSING STRIP MATERIAL Filed Dec m mrok ROBERT 1/. [aw/v:

3,084,425 METHODS FOR PRGCESSHNG STRIP MATERHAL Robert J. Erskine, Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, assignor to The VJean Engineering Company, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 863,036 2 Claims. (Cl. 29-493) This invention relates to cutting and handling long, thin strip material, such as extended lengths of steel strip or the like, for separation and handling of prime and reject sections of said strip.

In the processing and treatment of ferrous strip material, it is common to roll the strip, thereby forming long, continuous ribbons of strip material which frequently have a length measured in many thousands of feet. The strip is ordinarily wound into coils for the purpose of handling it and moving it from one part of the mill to another. Frequently, a length of steel strip is cold rolled in thin gauge on a reversing mill in which the strip is passed back and forth through the mill until the desired reduction in gauge has been accomplished. In such mills, a coil of the strip is placed on one side of the mill and is then drawn through, being coiled on the other side. When the strip has transferred in this way to the other side, the mill is then reversed and the strip is drawn back through the mill to the first side. The ends of the strip are held on each side to enable the strip to be pulled through the mill. The reversing is repeated as many times as necessary until the desired reduction in gauge of the center portion of the strip is accomplished. Since the ends of the strip are held throughout the rolling process, the extreme ends never pass through the rolls at all. Other sections, at each end of the strip on the mill, are generally of heavier gauge for the reason that these are the sections which pass through the working rolls of the mill when it is in the process of stopping, reversing, and taking a new bite on the strip. Accordingly, the strip delivered from the reversing mill ordinarily has a central section which is of the desired gauge and has two end sections which are somewhat heavier than desired gauge. These end sections are ordinarily discarded as scrap before passing the strip through a strip treatment line for further treatment, such as cleaning, coating, annealing, or shearing.

Heretotore, it has been customary to transfer coils, including elf-gauge reject sections to a strip treatment line. The strip has been started into the line where the initial oft-gauge section is chopped into short lengths which are then balled or hailed for charging to melting furnaces as scrap. Ordinarily, the leading end of the strip from a coil is passed through a shear which cuts the scrap into small sections until the prime center portion of the coil is reached. That section is then fed to the strip treatment line in the usual manner until the trailing end of heavy gauge is reached, at which time the shear is again operated to chop the reject strip into small sections for scrap which are disposed of in the same manner.

I provide means for holding coils of strip material having prime and reject sections, shear means to cut said strip and dissever said prime and reject sections and means to wind said reject sections into coils. I, preferably, provide coil holding means adjacent the entry end of a strip treatment line, shear means intermediate the coil holding means and said strip treatment line. I prefer to place reject strip winding means adjacent the coil holding means, preferably placing said reject coil winding means remote from the entry end of the strip treatment line. I further prefer to place strip cutting means intermediate the reject strip winding means and the coil holding means in position to cut strip extending from the coil holding means to the reject strip winding means. I further, pref- 3,084,425 Patented Apr. 9, 1963 ice erably, provide strip joining means intermediate the reject strip winding means and the coil holding means.

I prefer to place coils of strip material at a coil holding station and deliver reject material therefrom to a reject strip Winding station and prime material to said strip processing line. I further prefer to wind said reject material into coils at said strip winding station, preferably joining a plurality of reject sections end to end to form a coil of reject material of extended lengths.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated apparatus embodying and useful in the presently preferred practice of my invention placed at the leading end of a strip treatment line.

A welder 1 is provided in which successive sections of strip to be fed to the strip treatment line are welded end to end for passage through the line. If the line 'with which the invention is employed is not one in which a welder is required to join the strips end to end, then the first element of the line may be installed in place of welder 1. Strip is supplied to the line from a coil unwinding station indicated generally at 2. Coil holders 3 and 4 are provided at coil unwinding station 2. Coil holder 3 has a mandrel 5 upon which a coil indicated in outline 6 may be mounted. The leading end of a coil mounted on mandrel '5 is passed to the strip treatment line through pinch rolls '7 mounted upon a framework 8. The strip then passes through guides indicated at 9 and between pinch rolls 10 to guides 111 which lead it to pinch rolls 12. V A double cut shear having a fixed knife 13 and a movable knife 14 is positioned behind pinch rolls 12 to receive strip therefrom. The strip is then directed by table 15 across the top of a guide roll 16 to welder 11 following which it passes through the strip treatment line. Coils are brought to coil holder 3 upon a carriage 17 recessed in the mill floor.

A reject coiling station 18 is provided on the opposite side of coil unwinding station 2 from the strip treatment line. It comprises a reel i9 having a mandrel 20 on which a coil of reject strip material 21 is wound. Reject strip material is fed from coil 6 bet-ween pinch rolls 22 to a shear having a fixed blade 23 having movable blade 24. A welder 25 is also provided to join reject strip sections end to end. A pair of pinch rolls 39 receives the strip from welder 25.

Coil holder 4 is provided with a like carriage to supply coils to it. A coil is indicated in outline 25 mounted upon a mandrel '26 of coil holder 4. Strip from coil holder 4 to be fed to the strip treatment line is passed over defiector roll 27, between pinch rolls 28, then between fixed shear blade 13 and movable blade 29 in the double cut shear. The strip then passes over roll 16 to welder 1.

In operation, a coil is placed upon mandrel 5 and the outer or leading end, which is of a gauge heavier than desired, is passed between pinch rolls 22 to the shear blade 24 which is then moved down to cut and square the strip. The strip is then passed between pinch rolls 30 and wound upon mandrel 20. When the entire section of heavy gauge reject material has been unwound and passed beyond the shear, blade 24 is again operated cutting the strip to dissever the initial end of reject material and the following prime material. The prime section is then withdrawn from between pinch rolls 22 and is threaded through pinch rolls 7 along guides 9 and 11 and between pinch rolls '10 to welder 1 where it is welded end to end with the previous strip in the treatment line. The prime section is then fed directly and continuously to the strip treatment line from coil holder 3.

In the meantime, the leading end of reject strip on a coil upon coil holder 4 is passed between legs 31 of framework 8 and beneath the coil upon coil holder 3. The reject oif-gauge strip is passed through pinch rolls 22, the end thereof is squared by the shear. The end of the strip is then advanced to welder 25 and welded to the end of the previous section of reject strip. When the entire section of reject strip has passed between shear blades 23 and 24, the shear is operated to dissever the reject and prime sections and the prime section is recoiled upon coil holder 5. The end is then fed through pinch rolls 28. When the end of the prime strip is reached from the coil on coil holder 3, shear blade 14 is operated to cut the prime strip from the trailing end reject strip section. The leading end of prime strip on coil holder 4 is then Welded thereto and strip is fed to the strip treatment line with virtually no interruption. In the meantime, the reject strip section on coil holder 5 is withdrawn and threaded through pinch rolls 22 and is then welded end to end with the reject material already wound at reject coiling station 18. When this has been done mandrel 5 will be empty, a new coil is provided at coil holder 3. The leading reject section is then removed from this coil in the manner previously described. The prime section is then threaded through the appara tus to pinch rolls 22. When the end of the prime section of the coil on coil holder 4 is reached, the strip is cut to dissever the prime material from the trailing end reject material. The prepared strip end being held at pinch rolls 22 is then joined end to end with the previous section of prime strip and the feed to the line again comes from the coil on coil holder 3. In this manner, the feed to the strip treatment line may be maintained substantially continuously.

When a feed coil of reject material is formed at reject coiling station 18, the coil is handed and removed. It can then be easily handled by a crane hook or conveyor in the conventional fashion, being readily transportable to heating furnaces for charging as scrap.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have invented new and useful strip processing means capable of handling strip more expediously and conveniently than heretofore. The scrap is disposed of with a minimum of effort and expense. In many instances, a more desirable form of scrap is provided than conventionally. While I have illustrated and described a present preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself thereto and that the invention may be otherwise variously practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of processing coils of thin strip material of great length having lengths of reject material and lengths of prime material which comprises mounting each coil at a coil unwinding station adjacent an end of a strip treatment line, unwinding reject material from said coil in a direction away from the strip treatment line and coiling said material at a reject coiling station remote from the strip treatment line, cutting said strip when prime material is reached on said coil, feeding the prime material from said coil unwinding station to said strip treatment line, thereafter cutting the strip to dissever prime material and reject material, and joining the next succeeding length of reject material end to end with the previously coiled reject material whereby lengths of reject material are formed in a continuous coil.

2. The method of processing thin strip material of great length which is wound in coils, each coil having leading and trailing ends of reject material and a center section of prime material which comprises placing one of said coils at an unwinding station adjacent a strip treatment line, unwinding reject material from said coil away from the strip treatment line to a reject coiling station remote from said treatment line, winding said reject material into a coil and cutting the strip when the first length of reject material is coiled, unwinding the prime material to the strip treatment line, cutting the prime material from the trailing end of reject material, joining the trailing end of reject material end to end with previously coiled reject material, coiling the trailing end of reject material and then repeating with other coils whereby lengths of reject material are formed into a continuous coil of reject strip material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 10,620 Harris July 7, 1885 1,658,529 Kimball Feb. 7, 1928 2,160,396 Asbury et al. May 30, 1939 2,205,630 Remington June 25, 1940 2,267,036 McArthur Dec. 23, 1941 2,394,466 Muddiman Feb. 5, 1946 2,539,950 Gonzalves Ian. 30, 1951 2,782,488 Anderson Feb. 26, 1957 2,883,893 Bloxham et a1 Apr. 28, 1959 2,912,563 Schlieker Nov. 10, 1959 

2. THE METHOD OF PROCESSING THIN STRIP MATERIAL OF GREAT LENGTH WHICH IS WOUND IN COILS, EACH COIL HAVING LEADING AND TRAILING ENDS OF REJECT MATERIAL AND A CENTER SECTION OF PRIME MATERIAL WHICH COMPRISES PLACING ONE OF SAID COILS AT AN UNWINDING STATION ADJACENT A STRIP TREATMENT LINE, UNWINDING REJECT MATERIAL FROM SAID COIL AWAY FROM THE STRIP TREATMENT LINE TO A REJECT COILING STATION REMOTE FROM SAID TREATMENT LINE, WINDING SAID REJECT MATERIAL INTO A COIL AND CUTTING THE STRIP WHEN THE FIRST LENGTH OF REJECT MATERIAL IS COILED, UNWINDING THE PRIME MATERIAL TO THE STRIP TREATMENT LINE, CUTTING THE PRIME MATERIAL FROM THE TRAILING END OF REJECT MATERIAL, JOINING THE TRAILING END OF REJECT MATERIAL END TO END WITH PREVIOUSLY COILED REJECT MATERIAL, COILING THE TRAILING END OF REJECT MATERIAL AND THEN REPEATING WITH OTHER COILS WHEREBY LENGTHS OF REJECT MATERIAL ARE FORMED INTO A CONTINOUS COIL OF REJECT STRIP MATERIAL. 